If a participant wishes to withdraw from a study, what should the researcher do?

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Respecting participants’ autonomy is essential in human subjects research. When someone wants to withdraw, the researcher should acknowledge the request, stop any further data collection from that person, and document the withdrawal. The participant should not face penalties or pressure to stay, and confidentiality must be maintained. What happens to already collected data depends on the initial consent, but the important action is to honor the withdrawal and remove the person from ongoing data collection. The other options undermine autonomy or ethics: ignoring the withdrawal is noncompliant with ethical standards, requiring completion is coercive, and replacing the participant does not address the individual's right to withdraw (though new recruitment to meet sample size is a separate process).